Chapter 13 True Beauty is Beneath the Skin

Calming waves pushed themselves over Kat, starting in the centre of her head and working their way down to her fingers and toes. It was an extremely calming sensation and Kat felt like she could drift back to sleep. *Wait a minute, back to sleep? Where is my crippling pain and torturous fire?* Kat's eyes shot open. She was still in the bag she slept in and pondered what the point even was before another wave ran across her body and her eyes went wide.

Every wave that passed through her was flaying another layer of her skin; she was surrounded by it. The waves continued speeding up and the bag filled with dead and dying skin before one final tremble rocked through Kat, peeling of her nails. Kat paused, stunned as her hair floated down in her vision. She was scared to move; she couldn't see her hands or feet and she dared not touch her head. * Ok this has to be worse than the pain, right? At least it was over soon enough. *

Carefully extracting herself from her awkward sleeping arrangements, Kat noticed the skin on her arms was pale and smooth and her nails seemed fine. Reaching up timidly she felt for the top of her head and to her relief found she retained or regrew hair after the incident. Quickly tidying up her remains, she tied the overflowing bag shut and went to examine herself more closely. * Ok, this is weird. My nails look about the same, but my skin is really pale, like I haven't seen the sun in three years pale. * Kat's tail twitched in annoyance and that only increased her confusion as she felt it brush through her hair halfway down her back.

Reaching around Kat confirmed her suspicions. She now had long hair, much longer than she ever really wanted or bargained for. * I can't even decide if this is easier to hide than the tail. I mean sure my hair is really long but that's not so bad, my skin though, surely someone will notice that, right? I've only dropped a few shades but I'm closer to paper than person at the moment. Well maybe I can cut my hair and then put on a jacket, hide most of my arms… but what the hell am I going to do about my face…* Kat pinched her nose and sighed. *I can deal with this later. Wait a minute, can I? *

Quickly glancing over at the clock Kat was half relieved and half annoyed to find that it read 5:00 exactly. * Clearly I didn't get much sleep but I feel mostly fine? At least I have time to clean everything up. Now do I get rid of the bag or do I clean up? No that's a stupid question. * Kat quickly prepared clothes for the day, before entering the bathroom. Just as she was about to remove her outfit, she remembered she was still wearing the kimono. Ok, the system said I can just will it away, does that still work? Concentrating for a moment the dress quickly faded leaving Kat stunned at how easy it was.

* Guess that works. * Kat stepped into the shower and turned on the water. Just as she was starting to relax she noticed something strange. What is wrong with the water? Kat stopped and examined her hair and arms to see that the water was bouncing straight off her instead of clinging to her skin. Well that's weird, does that mean I can't shower properly anymore? Quickly stepping out of the shower Kat attempted to dry herself only to confirm that she wasn't wet in the slightest.

* So… I really hope that things other than water slide off my skin and hair and this isn't another line of inconveniences I've been subjected to. * Putting on her clothes and hiding her tail, Kat took another glance in the mirror as she pondered what to do about her hair. * Perhaps I should just cut it? Surely that won't end well for me though. I'm not even sure I have scissors.* Quickly pulling open the drawers of the bathroom vanity, Kat was surprised to find a sharp set of scissors clearly well taken care of. * I sincerely apologise to whoever's these are for using them without permission. * Kat brought the scissors down on her hair only for them to get caught. Kat tried applying more pressure but stopped just short of putting her full strength into the scissors.

Clearly whatever had happened to her hair had made it much stronger as well. *Well that's just great, how am I supposed to hide this mess?* Gently returning the scissors to their hiding place Kat sighed. *I don't even have anything to hold my hair up because I tend to keep it short enough that school doesn't mind. Shit maybe I'll need to borrow something from Lily. Wait, would that work?* Focusing on her hands Kat tried to imagine just her hair pins from her Demonic Attire. Kat stared at her hand for thirty seconds intently picturing just the pins in her mind and just as she was about to dismiss the idea, something seemed to twist and all of a sudden, her hair had wrapped itself around her hair sticks. Uh… How did that work? I thought it just let my outfit appear why can it also move my hair, system?

USER KAT SEEMS TO POSSESS A SLIGHTLY MUTATED FORM OF DEMONIC ATTIRE. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY COMMON OCCURRENCE FOR SUCCUBI AND SOMEWHAT RARE FOR OTHER DEMONS. THE SPECIFICS OF YOUR MUTATION ARE UNKNOWN, FURTHER STUDY WILL BE REQUIRED.

* Well that's, reassuring? Maybe? At least I don't have to struggle with learning how to tie my hair back with the things. Guess I better get ready to wake the kids. * Finishing up in the bathroom Kat returned to her bedroom to deposit her things before stopping and remembering she'd simply phased out of her attire. Kat then proceeded to wake the orphanage before being confronted with Sylvie wearing a smug grin on her face."Yes, I know you have sharp eyes Sylvie, we can talk about it with Lily when she arrives ok," said Kat.

Sylvie just shrugged liked she had expected that answer and huddled around Kat's legs as she entered the dining room.

After breakfast Kat returned to her room with a pleased Sylvie in tow. Despite Kat's attempts to insist the girl have a shower, she wouldn't budge and Kat still struggled with Sylvie's demonic charms. Opening the door to the room Kat was mildly surprised to find the garbage bag still in the corner. * Woops, guess I'll have to sneak that in with the trash later, or maybe I'll get rid of it tonight. Hopefully Sylvie and Lily won't ask about it. *"Hey Kat, what's in the bag beside your bed?" asked Sylvie.* Why do I even bother. *

"You really don't want to know Sylvie?" said Kat with a slight shiver. The young girl looked up at Kat with questioning eyes but seemed to know that some questions truly weren't worth answering. Taking a seat on the bed Kat stretched slightly and leaned against the wall before Sylvie sat on her lap facing her and said,

"Can you wrap me in your tail Kat? It's the best." Kat just smiled at the girl and let her tail snake out from under her shirt before she paused and then began using the side of the spade tip to tickle the girl. Sylvie's cheeks puffed up as she tried not to laugh, her eyes screamed betrayal at her friend for even attempting this. Kat withered slightly under Sylvie's gaze and wrapped her tail around the girl before lifting her up a bit and positioning her against her stomach.

* I swear if my demonic powers are half as good as Sylvie's no one will ever be able to stop me. * Kat decided it was best to just relax. She had an adorable child hugging her, the peaceful morning air drifting in through the window, and she was all up to date on her studies. There was nothing she had to worry about right now.